Machine for wrapping celery.



M. W. EARL.

MACHINE FOR WRAPPING CELERY.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 27, 1913. 1,107,27 3. Patented Aug. 18, 1914.

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M; W. EARL.

MACHINE FOR WRAPPING GELERY.

APPLICATION FILBD OOT. 27, 1913. 1,107,273. Patented Aug. 18, 19m

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MALCOLM EARL, 0F WATERTOWN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR 0F THREE-FOUR'IHS TO PERSIS J. EARL, SHERIDAN E. EARL, AND ERNEST J. EARL, ALL OF WATER- TOWN, NEW YORK.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, MALooLM W. EARL, a citizen of the United States, residing at WVatertown, in the county of Jefferson and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for rapping Celery, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in machines for wrapping celery, and has for its particular object to simplify the construction, lessen the number of parts, and to cheapen the production, as well as the operation of machines of the class.

The invention relates particularly to an improvement in the class of devices shown and described in my United States Patent Number 1071899.

The foregoing and other objects are attained by the means described in the following specification, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a top plan view of the complete machine. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a front end elevation. Fig. 4 is a perspective view; showing the machine in the act of wrapping a row of growing celery.

Similar characters of reference are assigned to corresponding parts throughout the several views.

In the drawings, the frame of the machine comprises similar upright posts 2 and 3, which are spaced apart longitudinally and transversely. The bottom ends of the corresponding posts 2 and 3 are mounted upon and supported by metal or wooden shoes or runners 4 and 4, to which they are rigidly secured by bolts 5. The top ends of the posts 2 and 3 are tied together respectively by transverse bars or rails 6 and 6, the said parts being rigidly joined by bolts 7. The posts 2 and 3 are held in parallel relation by the shoes 4 and 4 and the bars 6 and 6, and the latter are held in the same relation by rods 8, and also by a bar 9.

10 represents a handle for manually drawing the machine, which is secured to the bar 9 by bolts or screws 10. The frame comprising the foregoing parts is mounted upon wheels 11, there being one wheel connected with each of the posts 2 and 3. Each wheel 11 is mounted loosely upon a pin or shaft 12, which is supported by a pair of angular braces 13, which in turn are rigidly secured Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 27, 1913.

Patented Aug. 18, 1914.

Serial No. 797,396.

to the opposite edges of plates or blocks 14, by bolts 14. Each plate 14 is slotted near its opposite ends, as at 15, to receive bolts 16 which are carried by the upright posts 2 and 3, for rendering the frame adjustable vertically, for positioning the shoes or runners 4 and 4 relatively to the surface of the ground. The parts 14 are then held rigidly in place after each adjustment by thumbnuts 17 The present machine, like that of my former patent, is intended for wrapping the rows of growing celery, the said wrapping consisting of applying continuous strips of paper 18, or similar light and flexible material to the opposite sides of the plants, for excluding the light and air, for effecting the bleaching and whitening of the stalks or stems of the celery which extend above the ground, for rendering the same crisp and tender. To this end, the rolls of paper, as 18 are loosely mounted upon spindles or posts 19, which are disposed in upright position at or near the middle of the oppositely arranged shoes 4 and 4', each of said spindles being fitted with a disk-like part 20 upon which the rolls 18 rest, the rolls 18 being free to rotate on the spindles and disks for paying ofi' the strips of paper 18 while the machine is moving along the rows of celery. It is preferred that the rolls 18 be subjected to a light tension, so as to slightly stretch the paper, in order that the paper may be applied. neatly and evenly to the opposite sides of the plants, and for this purpose I provide springs 21, the opposite ends of which are suitably secured to the posts 2 and 3 at each side of the machine.

In the present machine, the spreading stalks of the celery are gathered and compressed into narrow and compact rows by means of oppositely facing guards or wings 22 and 23, which are pivotally mounted respectively upon the runners 4 and 4. For this purpose, the forward end of each guard is provided with a pair of hinge-arms 24, one end of which is secured to the guards by bolts, while the opposite ends of the said arms are formed into loops 24 which engage upright pintles or spindles 25, the latter being achored in blocks 26 carried by the shoes 4 and 4'. By this construction and arrangement, the wings 22 and 23 are held substantially vertically, and they are also capable of swinging on the pivot pins 25 for allowing their rear ends to approach or recede from each other during the wrapping operations. The rear ends of the wings 22 and 23 are provided with vertically disposed rollers 27, for lessening the friction due to the tension applied for gathering the drooping stalks of the celery. The rollers 27 are supported by bars 28, which are mounted on the top and bottom edges of the wings. .Vhen the machine is first placed astride of a row of celery, the strips of paper comprising the oppositely disposed rolls 18 are drawn through between the wings 22 and 28, the strips when engaging the celery closely contacting with the inner faces of the wings. In this way the celery stalks are kept free from the wings and also the rollers 27, and all danger of the stalks being bruised or otherwise injured by the scraping contact of the wings is obviated. In order to properly gather and compress the spreading stalks of celery, considerable tension must be applied to the free ends of the wings 22 and 23, and for this purpose I provide springs 28, which cross each other in the form of the letter X. Each spring therefore exerts its power for drawing the wings toward each other. The springs 28 are adjustable by means of chains 29, which engage hooks 30 secured to upright arms 31 carried by the free ends of the wings (see Fig. 2). The chains 29 may be applied to the opposite end of springs 28, as shown in Fig. 1. At the beginning of the wrapping operation, the ends of the paper are brought together at the end of a row of the celery. These are then secured in any suitable manner. The machine is then drawn by hand along the row, and as it moves forward, the rolls 18 unwind and the strips of paper are applied to the opposite sides of the celery, as best seen in Fig. 4:. Any suitable means may be employed for holding the paper against the celery plants, but I prefer to use wire staples 32, which are placed astride the row and then forced into the earth, as shown in Fig. l. The paper is generally left in place for two or three weeks, the time usually required for bleaching the celery.

Heretofore, it has been more or less the general practice to bank earth against the lower edges of the strips of paper or other material after they have been applied to the celery, but I have found that the throwing up of the earth in this manner tends to distort the comparatively light webs of the paper, and furthermore, the earth when so applied tends to rot the paper, thus destroying in great part its function for properly bleaching the celery. I have obtained the best results when the paper is applied and arranged in the simple manner herein shown and described.

My improvement is extremely simple, yet it performs all of the needed functions. Owing to its novel construction and arrangement, I am able to produce a light, simple and practical celery wrapper which has comparatively few parts, and which is readily operable by hand, and I am also able to wrap a greater amount of celery in a given time at less outlay and expense for machine, labor and material, than is possible by the use of my former device, or in fact any other machine of the class known to me.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a machine for wrapping celery, the combination of a frame comprising spaced horizontal members, vertical members depending from the ends thereof, shoes connecting the lower ends of the vertical members, wheels secured to the frame, spindles carried by the shoes adapted to receive rolls of flexible material, guards pivotally mounted on said shoes rearwardly of the spindles, said guards comprising vertically arranged wings adapted to straddle and compress the rows of celery, and springs for drawing the free ends of said guards toward each other.

2. In a machine for wrapping celery, the combination of a frame comprising spaced horizontal members, vertical members-depending from the ends thereof, shoes connecting the lower ends of the vertical members, wheels secured to the frame, spindles carried by the shoes adapted to receive rolls of flexible material, guards pivot-ally mounted on said shoes rearwardly of the spindles, said guards comprising vertically arranged wings adapted to straddle the rows of celery, rollers carried by the free ends of said wings a lapted to gather and compress the plants, and means for increasing and decreasing the pressure of said rollers against the opposite sides of the row.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MALCOLM w. EAR

Witnesses MARION RYDER, ALLEN S. PERKINS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Yatents,

Washington, D. G. 

